Brett Callwood
The members of the LGBTQ+ New York City-based indie electronic trio Occurrence zero in on three albums for the ages.
Johnny Hager: Barbra Streisand’s The Concert from 1994. I bought the cassette in a bookstore in Mexico, where I grew up, and remember the first time we played it in the car. The album documents her return to the stage after 27 years. I remain obsessed with her intros and that voice.
Cat Hollyer: Around 1986, I heard a clip of “Mother Nature’s Son” and was stopped in my tracks. My only way of finding out the song’s name was to pore over my Beatles sheet music. Someone made me a dub on cassette, so the final song on each side was cut off. This album understood 8th-grade me more than most people.
Barbra Streisand’s “The Concert,” “The Beatles” (a.k.a. “The White Album”), and the Cure’s “Pornography.”
Ken Urban: This album remains with me. Robert Smith said you can only make one album like this in your lifetime, one so all-consuming. Those drums! The first CD I ever bought in high school, I recently got it on vinyl. When you flip it over after “Siamese Twins,” the album’s journey from utter despair to fighting for hope feels even stronger.
Occurrence’s album Real Friend is out now.